The year 2014 was a tale of two halves for Summer Rae. Early in the year, she was the dance partner for Fandango and one of the top Divas in NXT. Whether was making male members of the WWE Universe drool with her short skirts the showcased her long legs on Raw and SmackDown or leading the BFFs as part of WWE's developmental brand, she was a performer who very much appeared to be surging. Then she disappeared from all three shows to shoot "The Marine 4" with The Miz and was replaced, both as the dance partner to Fandango and the leader of NXT's version of Mean Girls. When she returned, she had not only seen her on-screen role diminish, the in-ring skills that she had developed and shown flashes of in NXT were nonexistent. Matches with Layla, particularly one on the Money in the Bank pay-per-view, were largely awful. At Survivor Series in November, she was exposed as a worked while working with the likes of Natalya and Emma, two women far superior to her in terms of actual experience and in-ring workrate. How she could disappear from television for a handful of weeks and return worse than before is a mystery. For her sake, though, hopefully she rediscovers the abilities that helped make her one of the more promising stars in NXT earlier in the calendar year.
Erik Beaston is a freelance pro wrestling writer who likes long walks in the park, dandelions and has not quite figured out that this introduction is not for Match.com. He resides in Parts Unknown, where he hosts weekly cookouts with Kane, The Ultimate Warrior, Papa Shango and The Boogeyman. Be jealous.
